I got the first chips this morning. This was just a old needle program I pulled up on a piece of birch.
Why didn't I do this a long time ago Wow listed how smooth that spindle/resulting turning is and this is only 3 axis. Going to write some 5 axis code this weekend. That's 70 inches per minute cut speed from the old machine. Full spindle control via 3 phase speed drive.
Front one is completely covered, rear is not...yet. I'm closing up holes now in the turning area just for dust and part collection. I have to move the speed control and will then put a full shield on the rear screw.
Hasn't been a problem yet but I keep the stuff pretty clean.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfessorM
your a sharp fella. Do you find those exposed ball screws loading up?
Billy right there it's about 5500rpm. I ran it yesterday at 65 hz which is ~7245.
It cuts very very nice at that speed. I ran 2 bins 99x2 in about an hour and 20 minutes. Finish is excellent on red cedar. Birch is just disgusting how smooth it comes out. Cutters are new and sharp but wow. 10 second 150 grit sanding.
The Vega has always been a very nice lathe. It's very smooth. Makes a real nice platform to do this on. I'm going to try some giant poppers next week. Should work nice with a huge block of wood as I can vary the speed of the motor as the blank gets to circular and smaller.
Starting to look at air feed for this now for ch u c king. Going to start working on the feed system next week.
How come you can't say chuck ing without it getting edited LOL
5500 rpm WOW. If I could spin the bats at that speed those birch bats would need virtually no sanding. At that speed they would probably wobble so bad it would be a projectile weapon.
Billy I can show you first hand what it feels like. My big machine does billy bats at 4000. When that blank spins up the hair stands up on your arm
Seriously I wouldn't do that on a small machine, nor would I on the vega. It takes hydraulic pressure levels to be able to hold a piece of wood that big safely at that speed.
The thought of a 5lb dowel flying off is scarey if not lethal. I now have gotten a good feel for turning @ 2000-2400. I was causiously turning 1200-1500 but discovered a better and faster cut. As I mentioned earlier with the double HD steady rests, the billet is very secure and vibration free. It take a couple extra minutes to ste up and finish turning off the contact areas but the benefit is a good product.
There is a guard with the lathe but It's a pain in the ass with the dupe. I'm pretty cool with the operation. Let me get a few pix on line. Eventually I want to do a short video on turning baseball bats with a Vega dupe. I haven't seen one online. My communications grad son will be handling the production since I just about could you a movie camera.
Thanks Scott. We strive to put out the best product possible. Our wood selection is top priority. WE only carry professional grade. We want our customers to have the best selection of straight grain and moisture control wood. We try to minimize the breaking with a quality raw product. They still break when hit in the incorrect spot!!
Today was the first day I ran both machines together. Body cycle time for an a40jr is 21 seconds complete. I finished an entire turning run before lunch. This is cheating
I only see 3 axis at work were are the other 2? x ,z, c were are y,b axis?
Originally Posted by Flaptail
"Throw plugs like we do that will cause them to suffer humility. Pogies make any fisherman look good when bass are around. Bait is easy."
I'm still on drawknives an spokeshaves....but you can't spin these babbies on a lathe.....I got sum new sticky yellow eyes from from the spinmaster ..txs Scott.